Layering Skin Care Products – What Goes On First?

APPROACH #1 – Lightest to Thickest Texture

The simplest approach is to go from lightest to heaviest texture – in other words, the lowest to highest viscosity. Viscosity is how thick something is.

Apply the lightest product first – the one with the loosest or runniest texture (most fluid). And the thickest product last (most solid).

The looser the texture, the more water there is in the product. The more solid it is, the less water there is.

This lightest to heaviest approach is not precise but good enough.

APPROACH #2: Water-Based Products Go FIRST, Oil-Based Products Go LAST

What goes onto skin right after cleansing? It should be a water-based product.

Water-based means there is more water than oil in the product (called an oil-in-water emulsion). The texture is more fluid.

Oil-based means there is more oil than water in the mixture (called a water-in-oil emulsion). The texture is generally more thick, solid, or oily.

An oil-based product should go on LAST, to seal in moisture.

To understand why better, you need to understand the structure of skin. I’ll briefly explain here, and you can read more about it in the Further Reading links at the end of this post.

The outer layer of skin is the Stratum Corneum, a dead layer of skin cells. This layer consists of 3 main components:

• Lipids (fatty substances)
• Corneocytes (dead skin cells), and
• Natural Moisturizing Factors (the skin’s natural humectants).

The lipids prevent the passage of water out of the skin by trapping the water molecules. (This is known as transepidermal water loss.) The lipids also prevent the Natural Moisturizing Factors from leaching out.

So, when you apply an oil-based product, which contains a high amount of lipids, you increase the skin’s ability to prevent water loss. The lipids partially occlude (provide a temporary film over) the surface of skin. This is why an oil-based product goes on LAST. You need to get your water-based products, such as toners and serums, into skin before you ‘seal’ skin.

If you apply a water-based product on top of oil, its penetration will be limited. (Oil and water don’t mix.)

What is Water-Based?

All toners, mists, essences, most serums (except oils that are called serums), and most oil-free moisturizers.

What is Oil-Based?

Of course oils. And many creams (the ones that are not oil-free). Oil-free moisturizers, which are usually in a fluid, lotion, or gel, are water-based. Balms are oil-based.

Silicone-Based Products 

Not to make things even more complicated (isn’t skincare complex?), but there is another dimension – silicone-based products. So let me digress for a few minutes.

Silicone is a term that applies to a group of ingredients. “Silicone” is not an actual ingredient. It is to easy to confuse this word with “silicon” (without the “e” at the end), which is an element in the periodic table. Examples of elements are: Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, etc.

Silicone ingredients have names ending in “cone” or “siloxane.” For example: Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane.

Silicones are used in many products to provide a nice slip to products. The slip refers to how a product applies and feels on skin. Silicones make a product spread more evenly, smoothly, and easily on skin. The product also feels silkier. Serums and creams with silicones provide a texture that many consumers find appealing. Makeup primers are made with silicones to create a smooth film over skin and “fill in the cracks’ (e.g. fine lines or uneven texture). The result is a satiny finish on skin that makes foundation application more flawless.

Silicones are also used in sensitive skin and barrier repair products. Most silicones block water molecules, preventing the passage of water going into and out of skin. This minimizes water loss and prevents the skin from getting dried out, a huge help when the skin barrier is damaged. A damaged barrier is more permeable to microbes or irritants, and more water evaporating out of skin. Silicones shield the barrier while still allowing air vapors (e.g. oxygen, nitrogen) to penetrate.

Some barrier repair creams and sensitive skincare products are made with a lot of silicones because they provide relief to chafed or irritated skin. The texture of this kind of product may feel like a dry, thick paste or ointment (a makeup primer texture is one example). This kind of of cream should be applied to skin last. Because a cream containing a high amount of silicones blocks water, a water-based product does not penetrate as well if there is already a thick silicone layer like this on top of skin.

In the photo to the right is Dermalogica’s Barrier Repair, a silicone-based gel. This product has no water (it’s called an anhydrous product). Instead, the first four ingredients are silicone ingredients. It may not be clear from the photo, but it feels like an ointment. In the photo, it looks like a gel, but it’s thicker and drier than your average gel. This is the kind of silicone-based product that is best applied last.

Sunscreens Should Always Go Last (But Before Makeup)

One final note – sunscreens (physical or chemical, but especially physical) should go on last in your skincare routine. But before you apply makeup (e.g. foundation or primer).

Sunscreen is your skin’s FIRST defense against free radicals. It should deflect, scatter, or absorb UV rays to neutralize free radicals as soon as possible.

This is crucial because free radicals create a chain reaction that generates more free radicals.

Foundation or BB cream should go on last simply because it will look much better (more smooth and fresh). Applying sunscreen over foundation would ruin the finish of the foundation.

If you have a mineral sunscreen powder (e.g. powder you apply with a brush), put this on last. Powder should always goes on last.

The Order of Skin Care Products in a Routine

While you might see variations, this is the order in which I prefer to apply skin care products. Time suggestions will also vary depending on the product.

For fluids, wait 10-20 seconds before applying the next layer. This will give skin time to fully absorb it.

For creams, wait 1-2 minutes before applying the next layer.

AM Routine

1. Cleanse

2. Tone

• This should be a hydrating toner (something with humectants that will hold in water). Not an astringent.

3. Optional – Spot Treatment Product

• This step is for an acne spot treatment or lightening spot treatment for small, select areas of the face.

4. Serum(s) and Essence(s)

• This may be one or more serums, depending on what conditions you’re treating and what brands you’re using.
• If my routine has more than one serum and they are all about the same viscosity, I like to apply the serum that treats my most important concern first. For example, if my most urgent concern is lightening, I’ll apply the brightening serum first.
• Or I apply the serum with the ‘best’ ingredients first. For example, the one with the most age-fighting ingredients or the most expensive ingredients.

5. Eye Cream

• I like to apply eye cream before moisturizer in order to allow the eye cream to reach the skin first. If you apply moisturizer first, it is easy for moisturizer to end up under the eyes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’ve invested into a good eye cream, applying that over the accidentally deposited moisturizer makes the eye cream less effective. It now has one more layer to pass through.

6. Moisturizer

7. Sunscreen (or BB Cream)

• This step is optional if you use a moisturizer with sun protection in Step 6.
• I recommend a separate sunscreen however, since most moisturizers don’t contain much sun protection. SPF moisturizers are inadequate for a full day of protection.

8. Makeup

• If you’re wearing sunscreen (not BB cream), then apply your foundation after the sunscreen. Give the sunscreen at least a minute to absorb and dry.

PM Routine

1. Cleanse

2. Optional – Exfoliate

• On the nights you exfoliate, this is when you do it – right after cleansing.

3. Optional – Mask

• On the nights you mask, this is when you do it – right after exfoliating (or cleansing if you’re not exfoliating).

4. Tone

5. Optional – Spot Treatment Product(s)

6. Serum(s) and Essence(s)

7. Eye Cream

• Re-apply eye cream if your eyes get dry before you go to bed. I do this if I cleanse my face more than a few hours before bed.

8. Moisturizer and/or Oil

• If you’re using both a moisturizer and oil, the ideal order will really depend on your products (their ingredients and viscosity). There are multiple routes of entry for ingredients to travel into skin, so a single answer that satisfies all product combinations isn’t possible, unfortunately. You can put the oil before the moisturizer, or the oil after the moisturizer – whichever way you find works better in terms of how well they absorb. If the moisturizer is oil-free, put it on before the oil. If the moisturizer is highly occlusive, put the oil on before the moisturizer.
• Press the oil in (instead of spreading it over skin). The oil will absorb better, and if you put moisturizer over it, the moisturizer will absorb better too. Plus, it avoids the potential issue of pilling (when a product balls up and leaves flakes on skin). And it prevents you from applying too much oil. It’s easy to over-apply oil and find yourself with pimples the next day.

9. Optional – Extra Moisturizer or Sleeping Mask

Why Layer?

Layering means to apply different products onto skin, rather than just one product.

When do you layer?

• YOU NEED MORE MOISTURE – Your skin is dry, and one moisturizer isn’t enough. It’s hard to satisfy very dry skin with just one moisturizer. So if you need more moisture, by all means, add another layer of serum or moisturizer. But wait a few minutes for the first layer to absorb before you apply another layer. Or return an hour or two later and apply more moisturizer.

• YOU WANT MORE PERFORMANCE INGREDIENTS – You’re interested in maximum age-fighting and want to get multiple performance ingredients into your skin, But you don’t have a serum that does everything you want. You might have one serum that does X and Y. And then another serum that does Z. It’s rare to find a serum that does everything your skin needs effectively.

Not everyone needs to layer. For instance, if you have sensitive, acne-prone, or oily skin, you’re better off with fewer products on your skin. Less is better in these cases.

The Challenges of Layering & Precautions

Layering skin care products can be tricky though. There are some challenges, but as long as you’re aware of them, that should not stop you from trying it.

• TIME – It takes more time. You have to wait for a layer to absorb before applying the next layer. If you’re in a rush in the morning, this may not be practical. But you can save layering for your night time routine.

• INCOMPATIBILITY – Sometimes a product may be incompatible with another product.
  • Some ingredients should not be combined. For example Benzoyl Peroxide should not be used at the same time with ingredients that are easily oxidized (antioxidants, tretinoin and most other retinoids, some lightening agents). Benzoyl Peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent. So using it with something that is easily oxidized cancels its effectiveness.
  • Two chemically incompatible products may produce pilling (product that balls up and leaves flakes on skin).
  • The products may have a different pH. Say one is acidic, the other is alkaline. In theory, the pH of skin care products should be close to skin’s pH (unless it’s an AHA exfoliant, in which case the pH must be acidic in order for it to work). A product may not work if it’s being combined with a product whose pH changes its ideal pH.
  • Products in a line are designed to work in synergy with other products in that line. Sometimes, a treatment product is meant to be used with another product for maximum results. Combining treatments from different brands may be less effective if the ingredients are working in opposition to each other.

• TOO ACTIVE ON SKIN – If you’re using two highly active serums, it could be too stimulating for skin or worse, irritating or damaging to the skin barrier. For example, two serums that both have a high concentration of an exfoliating ingredient (e.g. AHA), retinol, or Vitamin C. Retinol with certain AHA’s, like glycolic acid (which is already irritating by itself), is aggressive on skin and can be too drying or irritating. Or, you may simply have skin that cannot tolerate too many performance ingredients.

Tips for Layering

When you layer multiple products, you put a greater ‘load’ of product on skin. This can be too rich for skin. The way to layer effectively is to apply less of each product.

One way to do this is to apply a small amount of product (assuming it’s a fluid) to your palm first, lightly rub both palms together to spread the product up to the fingertips, then press your palms onto your face. For the eye area which has deeper contours, you can press your fingertips into skin. (It’s hard to reach inside the eye socket with your palms.)

The key point is to press, not rub. When you press, you use less product. When you place product directly onto skin and rub, you end up using more product. This pressing method prevents you from overloading skin and saves product. It is a common application technique in Asia, especially in Korean and Japanese skincare, which typically consists of many steps (layers).

If you have skin that doesn’t break out or get irritated easily, you don’t need to use this pressing method. Personally, I rarely use this method on myself because it’s time consuming and I don’t have the patience for it.

What I do is pump out product onto a few fingers (just the tips of the fingers, not the palms), rub that together with the same fingers on my other hand, and quickly spread both hands (it’s really just the fingers, not the palms) over my face.

The trick to this method is using a hydrating toner beforehand. The toner drenches skin and makes products slide easily across it. If I didn’t use a hydrating toner beforehand, the product would dry up quickly on skin, and then I would be forced to pump out more product to cover my whole face.

Parting Thoughts

Layering products is tricky because there are so many variations of skincare products today. And there is a growing trend of products becoming more multi-functional. They’re doing more than just one thing. And so they may have ingredients that you would ordinarily not find in that product.

With products crossing the lines between treatment and other functions, such as cleansing or moisturizing, it becomes more difficult to figure out how many products is appropriate for your skin and what order to put them in.

What makes it even more complicated is mixing brands. We all do this. I do it (and in the professional esthetics industry, my practice of using multiple brands may be considered unorthodox). But there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It’s hard to have a routine constructed entirely of one single brand’s products. Some brands are small and don’t offer everything we need. Of course, a brand will want you to use its whole line. But the reality is, it is unrealistic for a brand to excel in every product category and meet all of your individual needs.

And plus we’re only human. Most of us like and want variety, or we get bored. And then, as I always like to say, skin is in a perpetual state of change. Just the seasons and natural process of aging change our skin states and requires us to modify our routines, and therefore our products.

Because there is so much complexity in layering, each routine must be evaluated on a case by case basis. But I hope that this article gives you some insight and guidance.

The best thing to do is try it out and see what happens. But do it carefully. Always make small, incremental changes. Change one thing at a time and then see what happens.

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Further Reading:

• Skin Barrier Function
• Layers of Skin
• Lipids in Skin Care
• Glycosaminoglycans/Humectants
• All About Face Oils

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED. I no longer have time to answer questions about specific products and routines. If you need help with layering your routine, I offer private consultations by phone/Skype/email. You can contact me here for more info.